1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to an electric field read/write device and a method of driving the electric field read/write device, and more particularly, to an electric field read/write device including an electric field read/write head that can read/write data in a ferroelectric medium and a method of driving the electric field read/write device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A hard disk drive (HDD) is a storage device that operates by spinning a data recording medium and suspending a read/write head over it in order to read and write data. A conventional HDD typically uses a magnetic field to create a plurality of magnetic domains magnetized in a first direction or in a second direction, opposite to the first direction, on the magnetic recording medium. Magnetic domains magnetized in the first and second directions correspond to data ‘0’ and data ‘1’, respectively.
HDDs employing this magnetic writing method have undergone tremendous increases in their writing densities over the last few decades. Horizontal magnetic writing on HDDs can produce approximately 100 Gb/in2 in recording density, and vertical magnetic writing on HDDs can produce approximately 500 Gb/in2 in recording density. However, since it is difficult for a magnetic read/write head to form a strong localized magnetic field, the increase of recording density is limited.
Recently, research has been conducted into ferroelectric medium (on which data is written using electric fields) and corresponding read/write heads (electric field read/write heads). The electric field writing method uses an electric field to form electric domains polarized in a first direction or in a second direction opposite to the first direction on a ferroelectric surface. Electric domains polarized in the first and second directions correspond to data ‘0’ and data ‘1’, respectively. The resistance of the electric field read/write head above that domain changes according to the polarization direction of an electric domain, so that an amount of a current flowing between a source electrode and a drain electrode of the electric field read/write head may change. By detecting the change of the current amount, the data written in the electric domain can be discerned. According to electric field reading/wiring, high recording density of 1 Tb/in2 or more can be achieved.